Finland-based Konecranes reports it has received an order from the Matadi Gateway Terminal in the Democratic Republic of the Congo for four hybrid RTGs. These will be the first hybrid RTGs operated in Africa by the Congo River in the city of Matadi, the company said.
Konecranes now delivers hybrid and electric RTGs to customers as carbon neutral, said to be a world first in the container handling industry. Carbon emissions are minimized wherever possible in the manufacture of the cranes and the remaining emissions are compensated with re-forestation, up to the point of hand-over to the customer.
This order was booked in the first quarter of 2022 and the hybrid RTGs will be delivered by March 2023.
International Container Terminal Services (ICTSI) and La Société De Gestion Immobilière Lengo (SIMOBILE) jointly run the Matadi Gateway Terminal (MGT) in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. The new hybrid RTGs will enable MGT to handle increasing container traffic.
“This is a breakthrough for both DR of the Congo and Africa as a whole, where container terminals are looking for ways to reduce their carbon footprints. These are their first RTGs and a big step forward in their container handling ability that will help them to reach their growth goals,” said Matti Talala, Sales Manager, Port Solutions, Konecranes. This hybrid choice of MGT is fully in line with MGT's ongoing environmental policy.
MGT opened for business in 2014 and has since grown to reach 175,000 TEU of capacity. The new hybrid RTGs will handle containers with high eco-efficiency thanks to their hybrid drives. A hybrid Konecranes RTG is operated with electrical power from batteries and a diesel generator. During normal use, power is drawn from the batteries. During peak use, power is drawn from the batteries and diesel generator together. The hybrid RTGs for MGT will have built-in readiness for fully electric operation and they will have the smart features Auto-steering and Stack Profiling with a lifting capacity of 40t.